Juno (2007)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Jason Reitman

Writer (WGA):

Diablo Cody (written by)

Release Date:

25 December 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A comedy about growing up... and the bumps along the way.

Plot:

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

Plot Keywords:

Abortion | Adoption | Best Friend | Pregnancy | Suburb

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 49 wins & 38 nominations

Cast

Ellen Page	...	Juno MacGuff
Michael Cera	...	Paulie Bleeker
Jennifer Garner	...	Vanessa Loring
Jason Bateman	...	Mark Loring
Allison Janney	...	Brenda 'Bren' MacGuff
J.K. Simmons	...	Mac MacGuff
Olivia Thirlby	...	Leah
Eileen Pedde	...	Gerta Rauss
Rainn Wilson	...	Rollo
Daniel Clark	...	Steve Rendazo
Darla Vandenbossche	...	Bleeker's Mom
Aman Johal	...	Vijay
Valerie Tian	...	Su-Chin Qah
Emily Perkins	...	Punk Receptionist
Kaaren de Zilva	...	Ultrasound Technician

Also Known As:

Junebug (USA) (working title)
Juno (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | UK:12A | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Sweden:7 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Australia:M | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43795) | Germany:6 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Brazil:10 | South Korea:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:NC-16 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:AL | UK:12 (video rating) | Ireland:15 (video rating) | Greece:K | Taiwan:PG-12 | New Zealand:M | France:U | Peru:14 | Iceland:7

Filming Locations:

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Mandate Pictures

Trivia:

When searching for potential parents for her baby, Juno says she's looking for someone cool "like a graphic designer." In real life, both star Ellen Page's father and Diablo Cody's ex-husband are graphic designers.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Juno and Leah are at the mall, a Rogers Communications kiosk can be clearly seen in the background. The film takes place in Minnesota; Rogers Communications is a Canadian cable company, with no locations in the United States.

Quotes:

Juno MacGuff: My dad had this weird obsession with Roman or Greek mythology or something and he decided to name me after Zeus' wife.
Mark Loring: Zeus' wife?
Juno MacGuff: Yeah and I mean Zeus had tons of lays but I'm pretty sure Juno was his only wife. And apparently she was supposed to be super beautiful but really mean, like Diana Ross.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "30 Rock: Goodbye, My Friend (#3.13)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Once I Loved

Thundercats are go?

This could have been a very, very good film. I enjoyed the basic plot - a quirky, tomboy-ish 16 year old discovers she's pregnant, decides to give the baby up for adoption to the "perfect couple" but finds that the perfect couple isn't so perfect - and maybe no relationship ever is.

There were also some great moments, and great lines. I like when Juno tells the baby's quirky father, Bleeker (played by Michael Cera) that he is the coolest person she knows, without even trying. And he responds that, actually, he is trying really hard (to be cool).

I guess that gets me to the problem with the movie- it's trying waaaaay too hard to be cool (by being quirky - yes I have used this word 3 times already, intentionally). In the beginning, a store clerk sees that Juno's pregnancy test is positive, and he says: "that's one diddle that can't be undone, home-skillet". I cringed. As others have mentioned, Juno has an "ironic" hamburger phone, wears "ironic" t-shirts featuring 70's era toys (Slinky), wears Converse sneakers, and can't seem to have a conversation without making pop-culture references no matter what is going on - even when her water breaks and she is headed to the hospital, she has the detached sense of irony to make a reference to a mid-80's cartoon, yelling: "Thundercats are go!" I cringed again. I get it - Juno is a hip, snarky, ironic, tough, cool-because-she-trying-not-to-be-cool chick. But she becomes a cartoon, a warped caricature of an actual quirky kid. I could not accept Juno as "real" and was painfully aware that I was watching a movie.

And that is my ONLY problem with the film. The other characters and their stories are amazing - particularly the adoptive couple, and the difficulties they are facing. The best parts of the movie are those few moments when Juno gets her uber-ironic self off the screen, and we get to enjoy the other, more realistic, characters.

Would have given this a 8.5, if not for the cartoonish-ness of the Juno character. Thundercats are not go.